Hi, first post! This forum in general and this thread in particular have been very helpful in making my first Polerouter (and first Universal for that matter) purchase, thank you all for sharing.
I've recently acquired what I believe to also be an example of a transitional Pol(a/e)router, in this case a 20217/1. Photos below.
Curiously enough, this watch's serial number matches the highest serial number listed for the second run of 20217/1 Polarouters in the table at
https://universalgenevepolerouter.com/reference-tables/reference-table-steel-gold-plated/ - I haven't reached out to the owner of the site yet but would be interested to know the source for this data.
When I purchased the watch I was mainly concerned about the crown, but from looking at this thread I think there's at least a decent chance that it's original. Other than that, the crystal is neither original nor the correct profile, so I'm in the process of rectifying that.
Thanks again everyone for being such a great resource, hope this additional data point helps!
Hi - im the person who built/maintains the site.
The serial in the reference table is just the highest serial found so far from what we are referring to as a 2nd execution polarouter case.
(I recorded your serial from the chrono24 advertisement).
The numbers are not a definitive range, only the range of what has been found so far.
But, you can see the patterns for different references emerge, and it becomes moderately clear the approximate range of each reference and subreference serials. This will become more precise as we find more serials and lock down the ranges with a little more confidence.
Your dial has both Pola and Pole characteristices:
- the lack of outer minute track on the dial (Pola 20217-1);
- the dial says obviously Polerouter (Pole S20217-1).
The UG and Automatic text seems legitimate to my eye.
The Polerouter text looks more or less the correct font, but very thick compared to both the other Pola 2nd ex, and the earliest serial Polerouter S20217-1 i have found (photos are not same resolution, but compare the spaces in the O, P, and R - your example is on the left).
"Transitionals" could be real, or they could just be service replacements, or later replacements.
There are occasionally some Universal Geneve watches with legitimate looking dials that are missing polerouter/polerouter jet / polarouter / polerouter sub etc text (E.g. the "tiffany sub" on ebay at the moment).
The origins of / reasons for these is unknown at present.
In short, unfortunately i have no definitive answer.
😀
Regardless, its a nice looking UG, with an interesting mystery around it to solve.
😀
